Monday, November 29, 2010

Some people may find it hard to believe that although I live so close to Bidadari Cemetery, I have never visited it until recently.

Went on a night walk with Marcus last Friday, and was really hoping to see some night life such as civets or owls. Unfortunately, we did not see either. We saw quite a few nightjars, bats and moths though, which I did not managed to get any photos. The most exciting find was probably this terrestrial flatworm - my first time seeing this species too!

Initially, I had intended to visit it again on Saturday, but was too tired and overslept. And so it ended up that I only got to visit it again on Sunday afternoon. While most nature photographers go to Bidadari for the birds, I was there for the squirrels, and so I wasn't too bothered by the fact that I wasn't going there in the morning, where there will be more feeding birds.

My luck wasn't too bad, as not too long after I stepped into the cemetery, I saw a Variable Squirrel (Callosciurus finlaysoni) on a figging Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa)! It was happily feeding on the figs, which didn't appear to be ripe yet to me.

Variable Squirrels are actually non-natives. They are possibly escapees or introduced to some of our parks by irresponsible pet owners.

It was a really cute squirrel though. In fact, the genus name Callosciurus means Beautiful Squirrels. Hopefully it will not spread to other parts of Singapore and threaten our native squirrels. Had always wanted to see this squirrel, since I have a weakness for furry and fluffy animals. I saw at least 5 of them today, but only managed to get decent photos of this one on the fig tree.

At another part of the cemetery, I saw a few Plantain Squirrels (Callosciurus notatus). These are native to Singapore, and are very cute too!

Both species of squirrels feed mostly on fruits and leaves, though they may also eat insects and bird eggs.

While it was in the afternoon, and weather didn't look too good, I managed to spot a number of common birds too. The bird photos I took weren't exactly good, since I wasn't an SLR user. But I decided to post them anyway just for record purpose. Haha... :P

There were lots of Pink-necked Green-pigeons (Treron vernans) in the cemetery. One of the Benjamin's Fig (Ficus benjamina) was figging, which attracted lots of them.

Several Asian Koels (Eudynamys scolopacea) were also spotted. The above is a male. The koels were really noisy, and their calls were making echoes.

Due to the backlight, I only managed to identify this Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) after I took its photo and view it on the screen.

The Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) is possibly the most common kingfisher in Singapore.

Heard the lot repetitive knocking sound made by this Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus), and it took me quite a while before I managed to locate the tree it was on.

As I was heading home, I spotted this pretty bug laying eggs!

Here's a look from the front.

Heard that some people have spotted owls here before, and Marcus and I heard their calls on Friday night as well. Think I will probably coming back here again on another day to try my luck again :)